The Hitmans’s Obsession: An Age-Gap Romance Read online

  The Hitmans’s Obsession

  An Age-Gap Romance

  Jagger Cole

  Contents

  A Special Present

  Synopsis

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Epilogue

  Afterword

  Also by Jagger Cole

  About the Author

  The Hitman’s Obsession

  Jagger Cole © 2020

  All rights reserved.

  Cover by Plan 9 Book Design | Editing by MJ Edits

  This is a literary work of fiction. Any names, places, or incidents are the product of the author’s imagination. Similarities or resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or events or establishments, are solely coincidental.

  * * *

  No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without prior written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  * * *

  The unauthorized reproduction, transmission, or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal and a violation of US copyright law.

  Created with Vellum

  A Special Present

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  Synopsis

  I was born into a dark kingdom. I’m a mob princess—a pretty little flower in a gilded cage. No boys ever climbed my tower. No men ever got through the walls built around me.

  No one, except Vincent Cave.

  My bodyguard, my shadow. My gruff, silent, watchful guardian angel. A teddy bear to me, but a savage to anyone who’d seek to harm me.

  First he was my innocent crush. Then, it wasn’t so innocent.

  Eleven years older, and utterly gorgeous. Eyes that make my knees weak, arms I could get lost in, and lips that mine wanted to taste since I knew lips could do that.

  I’m back after three years away at boarding school. I thought that would cure me, but there’s no cure for Vincent Cave. Not when three years have made him hardened, and growlier, and even more irresistible.

  When the danger he always shielded me from comes calling, it’s Vincent and me, alone, on the run.

  I’ve grown up. He’s noticed.

  It was just a crush. Now, it’s just dangerous.

  1

  Bellamy

  “Happy birthday!”

  The gathered crowd screams the words at me as I blow the candles out. I should be feeling the warmth of the occasion. I’m nineteen and surrounded by easily a hundred people wishing me a happy birthday. But, they’re not here for me. They’re here for my father.

  Half of them he employs. The other half that aren’t are only here because they’re terrified of him. You can actually tell their level of fear of him by how big the gift is they’ve brought. I guess when the acting head of the Scaliami crime family says, “come to my daughter’s birthday pary,” you ask “Swarovski or Coach?”

  I smile weakly as the candle smoke wafts into my face. I’ve been on the balls of my feet excited for weeks for this day. But not because it’s my own birthday. I don’t even know any of these people. What I’ve been excited for, is him.

  It’s been three years. Before, when I was younger, it was a schoolgirl crush. Before that, it was something even more innocent, but just as fierce. First, he was my superhero. Then he was my best friend, like a teddy bear who could hug back. A teddy bear made of solid muscle.

  But when I grew older, my forever-shadow and companion grew into something… else. He became something I knew he shouldn’t be becoming to me. And just when I was starting to lose my mind over him, my father sent me away to boarding school, in France.

  It’s been three years since I saw Vincent Cave. But today, I’ll lay eyes on the only man who’s ever captured my heart. Even if he was never meant to. Even if he certainly doesn’t know it.

  My eyes move over the room again. It’s like I’m playing “Where’s Waldo” with a far more handsome and alluring Waldo. I’ve been on edge for this day for a month, ever since my father mentioned that he’d invited Vincent to the house for the party. I redid my hair three times this morning. I spent a fortune on my dad’s credit card to get a particular scent sent over from Rome—one I know Vincent likes. I went through almost every dress I own to find the perfect one. My father’s housekeeper, Pearl, jokingly asked who the boy was I was trying to impress. I held back on telling her no; no boy.

  Just a man. A man I’ve loved for years.

  “My beautiful Bellamy,” my father beams at me. He strides to my side and embraces me. My father loves me, I do know that. But I also know that his work comes first. He’s never ignored me or left me wanting anything in life. But, the “family” and the job come first. It’s the tradeoff, I suppose, for living the life of opulence I live.

  “Happy birthday, darling,” he says gently. He presses a box into my hand, and I smile.

  “Thanks, dad,” I beam. I open the velvet box and gasp. The locket is huge, and gorgeous—solid gold and absolutely gleaming with diamonds. “This is beautiful!”

  “It’ll look more beautiful on you,” he smiles.

  He lifts it from the box and moves behind me. He drapes it over my collarbone and starts to fasten it in the back. I’m smiling my rehearsed, plastic smile to his guests. But then suddenly, everything pauses. The din of guests goes silent. It’s as if a spotlight shines down on the man in the very back. Because standing there, is Vincent.

  He towers above the crowd of party guests. His thick black hair is slicked back. The blue eyes of his that I fell head over heels for pierce my own. My heart pulses heavily, my pulse quick and excited.

  I’d wondered if three years would diminish what I felt. I’d hoped and prayed that years away from him, in another country, would get him out of my system. I’d hoped in three years, time would have cured me of Vincent Cave.

  But I was wrong.

  My father finishes clasping the locket, but I barely feel its weight on me. I don’t even register the other people telling me how pretty it looks. All I see is Vincent. He grins at me, his lips twisting into that crooked, smug look that made me giggle when I was younger. It’s the look that stole my heart when I was older.

  The crowds seem to part like the Red Sea. He moves towards me. It feels like it’s in slow motion. Or maybe like we’re trying to run underwater. Run is exactly what I want to do. I want to run into his arms. I want to feel his body against mine. I want to feel his muscles coil tight around me. And desperately, I want to feel his lips take mine.

  I’ve been saving my first kiss, and it’s all for him. Even if I know it’s silly.

  “Mi Bella,” he purrs through his sideways grin. I tremble from head to toe at the sound of his slightly Italian accented voice. God I’ve missed that voice.

  “Mi Bella” is the nickname he’s had for me since I was a kid. Mi Bella; my beautiful. Bella Mi. Bellamy. It was silly when I was young. It was gasoline for the temptation fire when I was older.

  “Vincent…”

  I don’t have words. I’ve had words. I’ve had a million. I’ve had a thousand nights lying awake imagining what I’d say to him. Something elegant and poised. Soothing older sounding, and sultr
y. I’d show him how sophisticated and suave I am, and he’d instantly want me.

  Yeah, right. In my dreams. Literally. In real life, I just say his name, and then draw a fucking blank.

  “Happy birthday, Bellamy,” he says gently. His eyes twinkle. The dimples on his perfectly structured cheeks make my heart flutter. His perfect lips grin at me. “You look—”

  There are men yelling and cursing outside the ballroom. My father and his goons are on their feet and yelling. Some of the crowd starts bolting—some for the windows even, like a mad escape from a sinking ship.

  “What’s happening?!” I gasp. My father doesn’t hear me He’s too busy yelling at his men. “Dad!” I yell. “What is it?!”

  And then I hear the yells of “FBI!” from outside the ballroom.

  “Vincent!” My father yells. Instantly, he’s holding me again. Vincent’s huge arms pluck me up and drape me across his shoulders. I should be incensed at the indignant way he just tosses me over his shoulder. But when he starts to run, I don’t mind at all. All I know is, Vincent Cave is holding me tight, his big hands on me and his muscles coiling under my stomach.

  “FBI!” The doors crash in. Men in dark blue windbreakers and guns come pouring in. Vincent whirls and veers. We dart into the kitchen, and then down a hallway.

  “Vincent!”

  “I’m here, Bellamy,” he growls. “I’m here.”

  He zings and zags. We head down a flight of stairs, down into my father’s wine cellars. Vincent tears down rows of dusty old shelves. We run past a million dusty bottles before he stops in front of a partially ancient looking shelf. He reaches out and twists one bottle. The shelf swings in on hidden hinges. Inside, it’s dark, but Vincent plunges in. We race down a tunnel.

  At the end, he grabs a fob off a hook on the wall. He clicks it, and car lights flash. A dark black Bugatti sports car rumbles on. Vincent runs over to the passenger side. He effortlessly opens the door with me cradled over his shoulder with one hand. He sets me inside, and I don’t even mind when he buckles the seatbelt for me. For the first time in three years, we’re really face to face. Almost intimately so.

  “Vincent,” I gasp. “What’s happening?”

  “I’m taking you away from here, Mi Bella, he growls. “I’m doing what I was born to do.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Keep you safe.”

  He closes the door gently. I watch him run around to the driver’s side and get in. He revs the engine, shifts the car into gear, and it roars down a tunnel. We exit into the night, in the woods a mile maybe from my father’s country estate.

  Behind us, I can see the flashing lights of the police and the FBI. But they’re soon out of sight. Vincent revs the engine hard, and we roar off into the night. Just me and the beautiful, stone-faced man I’ve been in love with my entire life.

  2

  Vincent

  I pace the hall back and forth. I prowl, like I’m a beast. I’m usually a patient man, too. I’ve lain in wait for prey for days, barely moving or eating; barely breathing, lest the plume of breath in the cold give me away.

  But today, I have no patience. It’s been burned up over the last three years. And yesterday, the rest of it singed away.

  Today, I’m back in Bellamy’s house for the first time in three years, and it’s turning my head upside down. She might not be here, but that girl is my reason for living. She was for years, at least. She gave me hope in a cruel world. She showed me that life could be more than death and the exchange of money. I’d say she was like an angel, but she’s more than that cliché. She’s more like my conscious. She’s the little voice in my ear, soothing me. She’s still the voice that I hear in my head when I need to calm down.

  I was young when I came to work for the Scaliami family. Leo Scaliami was freshly dead, and his second in command, Micheal Genovisi, was the new acting head of the entire family. I was a nobody. My father had brought me to the states for a better life, then promptly gambled the rest of our money away and been shot for it.

  Micheal became aware of the card game that ended his life, and of me that he’d left behind. He took me in and took me under his wing. He brought me into the life, and my fate was sealed. First, I stole for him, or played watch when his crews were pulling a job. But I grew up and grew stronger. And then came the day that changed my life.

  I was eighteen when Micheal fired his daughter’s bodyguard. He’d caught the man pawing through Bellamy’s laundry. Micheal had the miserable piece of shit beaten and thrown to the streets. Years later, I killed him myself.

  But that was the day I became guardian to an angel. I became her everything. I watched her grow, and I loved her with all of my heart. Not like that—I’m no creep or monster. But I watched her like an uncle, I suppose. Or maybe like she was the kid sister I never had. Micheal gave me a second life, and I watched his most precious thing like she was the entire world.

  I did so until three years ago, when Micheal decided it was time for her to get the best education money could buy. And so, she went away to a private school in France, without me. I was meant to go with her, of course. But the school was an all-girls academy, and would have none of that, even with Micheal’s money and power. And so, I had to watch, grinding my jaw, as she was flown away from me.

  I channeled that anger and pain, though. I became ruthless, and unstoppable. It led me down a darker path, and I drew blood for the Scaliami family. In fact, I’ve become their most brutal, unflinching hitman.

  The door to the office opens, and Nico, Micheal’s top guy, nods for me to enter. I do so, and he leaves me alone with the boss.

  “Vincent.”

  “Mr. Genovisi,” I smile. “It’s been a long time.”

  He chuckles when he stands at his desk. “Christ, Vincent. Always so formal. You’re practically a son, you prick,” he chuckles. “Let’s stick with Micheal, shall we?”

  I smile. In a way, Micheal was always a second father to me. But I’m a professional to a fault. While working for him, he was always Mr. Genovisi to me.

  “It’s been a while, sir.”

  “Indeed! Indeed, it has. But I hear you’ve been making quite a name for yourself for us.”

  “Thank you, sir. I appreciate it.”

  He sighs. “I’m never going to get you to drop the formalities, am I?”

  I smile. “Not likely.”

  He grins. “Vincent, Vincent, Vincent. A man of principle. It’s why I’ve always liked you; you know. And why I always trusted you.” He smiles. “I have something for you.”

  Micheal reaches into his desk and pulls out a box. He slides it across the desk to me.

  “Sir?”

  “Eh, a present. Call it a birthday thing, or Christmas. Whatever. I meant to give it to you last year. But...” He smiles. “Well, it has been a while, hasn’t it?”

  I frown. “Thank you—”

  “Goddamnit, just say Micheal, okay?”

  I chuckle. I pull the sleek wood and brushed metal box forward and lift the lid. Inside is a gleaming, brand new Patek Philippe watch.”

  “Micheal…”

  “It’s a thank you. For all that you’ve done for me over the years. I’ve asked a lot, and you’ve always gone further than my expectations.” He nods. “Put it on, it’s yours.”

  I slip the watch onto my wrist. I grin and look up at him. “I really do appreciate it, sir.”

  He laughs. “Micheal! Micheal, for fuck’s sake, Vincent!” He sighs and beckons me closer. “Listen, I might need you today.”

  I frown and nod. “Anything you need, sir.”

  “My sources…” he sighs. “The Feds might be sniffing around more than I’d like.”

  I frown. “Sir?”

  “If they come, Vincent, I need you to do something for me. And they may come today, soon.”

  I glance around me, my senses tuning. “Anything.”

  “Take Bellamy away from here.”

  I blink. My attention snaps back to him
in a heartbeat. “Sir, Bellamy is away from here. Do you mean for me to fly to—”

  He laughs. “Fuck. You weren’t told?”

  “Told what?”

  He smiles curiously. “Did you not see the decorations around the house when you came in?”

  I frown. “I have.”

  “Well, today is—”

  “It’s Bellamy’s birthday,” I finish for him.

  He smiles. “Indeed. Nineteen. Christ, where does the time go?”

  “Is she celebrating with her friends?”

  He smiles curiously at me again. “No. No, Vincent, she’s celebrating here.”

  I freeze. My heart starts to race. “What?”

  He laughs. “My God, Nico didn’t tell you on the phone when he had you come?” He chuckles. “Yes, she came home two nights ago, Vincent. She’s here. In fact—”

  There’s a knock at the door. Micheal sighs. “Yes?”

  It opens, and Nico enters. “Sir, we’re ready for the cake.”

  I want to fall over. My heart swells. My very skin tingles with excitement.

  “She’s here? Bellamy?”

  “She is!” Micheal laughs. “And about to cut her cake. Come! I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to see you.” He beams at me. But then he draws close. “But, Vincent…” he puts a heavy hand on my shoulder and leans closer. “Should anything happen today, you know the wine cellar.”

  I nod. “I do.”